


The Middle Of The Ride

by ChromeMist



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Gay Keith (Voltron), Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:41:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26733034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChromeMist/pseuds/ChromeMist
Summary: Keith was a 'no compromise' type of person. That is, until Lance came into his life and shook it up.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Kudos: 16





	The Middle Of The Ride

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little something fluffy and maybe a teensy bit of angst if you squint. Just the boys being bad at feelings and talking.
> 
> Not beta'd so apologies for mistakes.

Keith Kogane was very comfortable with who he was and what he liked. He'd never really struggled with figuring himself out. He knew he liked other boys the way he was told he had to like girls. And really, that was other peoples problem. Not his. He liked boys, and that was that. You either accepted it and was a part of Keith's life, or you didn't and were not a part of his life. There was no room for middle ground in Keith's life.

Until Lance McClain wormed his way in.

Lance was a whirlwind of energy and loud bravado, a seemingly endless pool of confidence and flirted with everyone. He was everything Keith wasn't. And at first, he didn't like the Cuban boy. Keith would have ignored him for the rest of their college years, except Lance had befriended Keith's small circle of friends. So, Lance was there to stay.

And for the first time in Keith's life, he'd have to find some middle ground between their bickering. He didn't want to put undue stress on the few friends he'd managed to make and keep. So he either did his best to ignore the loudness that was Lance, or rose to the challenge when their friends weren't around.

At first, Keith didn't really understand Lance. He didn't want to. Lance was too energetic, too bombastic, too tactile of a person. But Keith eventually found ways to deal with it. He'd separate himself for a breather when Lance's energy drained him, put on his headphones when he got too loud, and dodged out of the range of Lance's hands.

After months of this though, Lance seemed to change around Keith. He became quieter in actions and words, and he kept his hands to himself. Keith's friends had pulled him aside, asking if the two boys were having a legit bad fight. Lance still acted his normal, loud self when Keith wasn't around. But they'd started to notice the subdued version of Lance when Keith was there. It was very different behavior than when they were having their normal like squabbles.

That bothered Keith. And for awhile, he couldn't figure out why it bothered him so much. Lance was a big confusion to him. Why did he act differently around him? What did he have to gain from that behavior?

It bothered Keith for a full month, bleeding into their interactions as Keith became more short tempered and annoyed by Lance's lack of noise than he'd ever been _ with _ the noise. He would snip at and needle the other boy, trying to goad him into some kind of reaction. Most of the time though, Lance would only clench his fists and look away, ignoring the situation until there was an interruption. Why though? Why was Lance doing this?

Finally though, Keith got the answer to all his questions one night while they were alone in Lance's single dorm and working on a class project. They were currently taking a break, sitting on the floor and drinking some beer Lance had stashed away. Both were approaching tipsy, and that gave Keith enough leverage to finally grill Lance for answers.

"Do you hate me now?" He asked bluntly. 

Lance blinked in surprise and lowered his bottle from his mouth. Confusion crossed his face as he answered, "No. What makes you think I hate you?"

"You act different around me now. You used to be loud and energetic. You used to try and drag me out to places. Now though, you aren't. You're just quiet, and you avoid being near me. This is the first time in awhile it's just been the two of us and it's because we're forced to for school."

Lance sighed and lowered his eyes to the floor between them. "And you automatically assume it's because I hate you."

Keith huffed in frustration. "Well, what else is it supposed to be?" Lance glanced up at Keith in shock, but Keith continued. "We're friends Lance, despite you being a loud, obnoxious flirt. At least, I  _ thought _ we were friends. Did I do something to make you hate me?"

Lance was good at flipping Keith's world on its axis. He'd never doubted himself before, never questioned his own actions. But Lance made him doubt. Made him question if they had even been friends in the first place.

The other boy winced at Keith's assessment of his character. "You don't like the loud obnoxious flirting though." He mumbled towards the floor.

"I don't..." Keith agreed, confused beyond belief though. "But I still don't get why you changed yourself around me."

Lance sighed, his blushing face morphing quickly from embarrassment to resignation. "Just... Just forget about it, Keith. There's nothing to worry about. Everything's fine."

Anger boiled up in Keith. "Everything is  _ not _ fine, Lance!" He snapped, setting his bottle to the side and folding his arms over his chest. "You either hate me, or you don't! And if you don't hate me, clearly something's still wrong!"  _ No middle ground _ ... He was going to get a clear answer out of him tonight no matter what.

Lance growled, gritted his teeth and slammed his bottle on his nightstand. "For the last time I  _ don't _ hate you!" His voice rose as he seethed with anger. Keith was just more and more confused by this boy.

"Then what  _ is _ it, Lance?" Keith matched the volume of the other boys voice. "I'm not leaving until I get an answer! Why did you change for me?" 

Lance gritted his teeth harder and rose up on his knees, looming over Keith, and hissed out, "Fine! You want to know why I changed?"

But before Keith could reply, Lance was swooping down. A tanned hand pushed its way into Keith's dark hair and pulled his head forward, towards Lance's face and the lips that were currently slanted over his own in a hard kiss. Keith froze in shock, making a startled little sound into the hard press of lips.

With a lip popping sound, Lance was pulling back. He kept his face close and whispered between them, "You don't like loud, obnoxious flirting." He repeated, placing a much more gentle kiss on Keith's lips. "So I tried to be something you'd like."

Keith's short circuited brain restarted, catching up with what was happening as Lance began to pull away in earnest. The hand in his hair fell away, gently caressing his cheek before Lance sat back, scooting further away from Keith and beginning to close himself off.  _ 'What _ ?'

"That obviously didn't work though so... Whatever." He shrugged his shoulder, trying in vain to act nonchalantly. It wasn't fooling Keith though.

"So wait... You  _ like _ me?" Keith clarified. Lance turned a deadpanned look on him.

"You're unbelievable.  _ Yes _ , I like you, though I don't know why! I don't go around kissing people for no reason! What kind of person do you think I am?"

Embarrassment flushed Keith's face. "I don't know! Loud and flirty? I don't do subtle Lance, so I had no idea."

"Well, it's fine. I got my answer anyway." Lance turned his head away.

Indignation flared up in Keith. Was he being dismissed without even being given a chance? True, he'd never thought of Lance in  _ that _ way. But he'd never thought there was a possibility of them.  _ 'Well, this won't do _ .' Keith thought. He either wanted to kiss Lance and consider them as something more, or he didn't. No middle ground.

So he grabbed Lance's shirt sleeve and tugged, earning the other boys attention. "Hey don't stretch my mmmph!" 

Keith leaned in and quickly settled his lips over Lance's, cutting off his words. Lance squeaked and initially stiffened in shock, but quickly softened, melting into the kiss. It was a little awkward at first, the angle not the best. Keith tilted his head and  _ there _ , that was better. Both boys sighed into the kiss as they slowly moved their lips against each other. 

Keith felt Lance move a hand back into his hair and as he carded long tan fingers through his locks, Keith found he really,  _ really _ liked having his hair played with. Keith gently tugged on Lance's sleeve again and began leaning back. Lance moved with him, then over him as Keith lowered his back to the floor. Lance settled his weight on top of Keith, but pulled back after a moment. Keith let out an embarrassingly small noise of protest, threading his fingers of both hands behind Lance's neck and tried to tug his head back down. Lance resisted, though kept his face close to Keith's.

"So wait," Lance breathed quietly into the minimal space between them. "What does this mean, Keith?"

Keith screwed his face up in contemplation. What  _ did _ this mean? Did he like Lance? Or was he just craving the attention of someone? It had been so long since anyone had paid him this kind of attention. And it honestly felt nice. But he wasn't sure if it was because it was Lance, or just a warm body on top of him.

"I don't know, Lance." He admitted truthfully. He fiddled with the short hairs on the back of Lance's neck, feeling the shiver that ran through the other boy. "I know I like you as a friend. But I never considered anything else. Can I have some time to think about it?"

Hope burst into Lance's face. He really wore his heart on his sleeve. Keith smiled hesitantly up at him. "Yeah... Yeah I can wait Keith." Lance agreed and began to lift himself off Keith, but was stopped by the strong hands still behind his neck. "Keith?" He questioned, looking down quizzically into Keith's dark eyes.

"I need some time to think... But in the meantime, do you think we could make out a little?" He asked shyly, a blush blooming on his cheeks. A similar blush rose up the apples of Lance's cheeks, but he nodded and brought his face back down, sealing their lips together.

Later that night as Keith was walking back to the dorm he shared with Hunk, he couldn't get the thought of Lance out of his head. Or the feeling of him all over his body. He'd quickly learned Lance was skilled with his tongue in more ways than just for talking. And his hands, so calloused, but so gentle when he'd touched Keith. And the sounds he'd made for Keith. It all pulled the most needy little sounds out of Keith, and he just  _ melted _ for the tanned boy. He wasn't ashamed of the half chub he was sporting on his walk back to his own building.

So he definitely was attracted to Lance physically. He wouldn't mind getting wrecked by him, or doing the wrecking if Lance preferred. But, did he want to  _ date _ Lance? Was Lance different as a boyfriend than he was a friend? Or was Lance a case of what you see is what you get? Would he just get even more annoyed by him?

Upon reaching their room, he shut the door maybe a little harder than necessary and flopped face first onto his bed. A chair creaking alerted him to Hunk turning in his direction and away from his desk. Maybe talking about this with Hunk would help. Because Keith was getting nowhere debating it with himself in his head.

"Everything go okay with your project tonight?" Hunk asked gently. Keith huffed into the pillow and turned his head, peaking one dark eye out at the larger man.

"Yes, the project's fine..." He started, then trailed off. How could he bring this up with Hunk?

"But?" Hunk prompted.

"But did you know he likes me? I had no idea until tonight that that was why he was so quiet around me. Am I a bad person Hunk?" Okay, word vomit works as a way to start a discussion.

Hunk blinked as he processed Keith's mini ramble. "Yeah, I knew he liked you. And no, you aren't a bad person. Why would you think that?"

Keith sighed and buried his face in his pillow and groaned before he sat up fully to face Hunk. "Lance said he tried to change himself around me because I don't like loud and overly flirtiness. He wanted me to like him. But what kind of person does that make  _ me _ if someone feels they have to change himself just to try and get my attention?"

"That idiot..." Hunk sighed.

"Sorry?" Keith asked, confused.

"I told Lance you're not the kind of person to compromise who you are. I've known you since high school, man. And I love you like a brother, but you suck at flirting and recognizing when someone's flirting with you. I told Lance to just come out to you and flat out ask you on a date. Knowing Lance though, he only heard the no compromise part and ignored the rest."

"Lance talked to you about me?"

"Well, yeah? When one wants to try and date a grumpy guy, one goes to grumpy guys best friend to get intel." Hunk grinned. Keith chuckled, a small blush rising on his cheeks.

"So then can you tell me about Lance?" He inquired.

"First off, did he actually ask you on a date? You can't just dangle that in front of my face and expect me not to bite!"

"Not exactly?" Keith started. Hunk made an inquisitive noise, so Keith continued in a rush. "He assumed I didn't like him, but I said I did as a friend. I just didn't even know romance was on the table with him. He kissed me and confessed, I asked for some time to think about it and then... Umm... We made out. A lot."

"Oh. Well. Okay. That's uh... Something?" Hunk floundered. Keith groaned and buried his face in his hands. "Hey it's not a bad thing. At least you know you like kissing him, right?" Keith nodded his head, not daring to look up. "Look, Lance likes to pretend he's easy going and has confidence in spades. But he's more complex than that. The fact that you wanted to kiss him back probably boosted his confidence a bit."

"So, you think I should give him a chance?" Keith inquired, finally lowering his hands.

Hunk nodded. "I think you should get to know him. That bravado of his? Mostly a defensive barrier. You just need to get under it and see the Lance that the rest of us see. I think he'd be willing to show you. But you have to meet him halfway Keith." Keith flushed, but agreed. He  _ did _ want to get to know the real Lance. It was time to step into the middle ground.


End file.
